Ethanol

Since it's been seven months since the Iowa caucuses and it'll be another three-plus years until that hell is fresh again, this is the best time to talk about ethanol.

Just in case you didn't know, ethanol is very popular in Iowa and other corn states, which is why most presidential candidates swear once every four years that they love ethanol so much they'd marry a jug of it if they could. If only for a moment, loyalty to this government moonshine becomes as fraught with political symbolism as a gay wedding in which both grooms refuse to wear American flag pins while declining to stand for the national anthem in support of our troops.

Related "Ethanol" Articles

Since it's been seven months since the Iowa caucuses and it'll be another three-plus years until that hell is fresh again, this is the best time to talk about ethanol.
Just in case you didn't know, ethanol is very popular in Iowa and other corn states,...

The following items were taken from police reports:
A 47-year-old Montgomery man was arrested Aug. 11 for disorderly conduct after he shouted and yelled at a clerk at the Downtown Food Mart who refused to sell him alcohol.
A 41-year-old Westmont man was...

The Chicago City Council has a long history of doing nefarious things to its citizens, but as far as we can tell, it has never tried to ruin your car’s engine. There’s a first for everything.
A council committee is set to hold a hearing Monday on an...

The recent spate of accidents in the U.S. and Canada involving trains carrying crude oil demonstrates that “far too often, safety has been compromised,” the head of the top U.S. transportation safety agency said today.
The amount of crude oil transported...

A man and his friend suffered burns after he ignited a mixture of marijuana and grain alcohol with a butane lighter in his South Loop apartment, according to authorities.Daniel Tatman, 21, and the friend, also 21, both suffered burns on their faces and...

In a car, power sources like electricity and natural gas seem threatening. Once you look into it, you'll find these alternatives are not necessarily more dangerous. But they do raise different concerns than do gasoline engines.Crash testsMore than...

Spikes in gas prices often turn attention toward alternative fuels. Ethanol alcohol, in the form of E85, is occasionally in the news due to political debates, automotive marketing and the controversial rise in global food prices. GM (the largest...

A key rating agency dropped Illinois’ credit outlook from stable to negative Friday, a move that could make it more expensive to pay for an ongoing statewide construction program aimed a building new roads, schools and bridges.
The warning shot from...

As the battle wages on over the safety of feeding antibiotics to livestock for growth promotion, a new report reveals yet another source of unregulated antibiotics in American animal feed--spent ethanol grain.The new report by advocacy group the Institute...

Two crew members were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after three freight trains collided northeast of Valparaiso, Ind., this afternoon, according to sheriff’s authorities.About 1:15 p.m. multiple 911 calls were received reporting a...

The husband of a woman who died in a Rockford train derailment in 2009 was awarded $22.5 million to settle a lawsuit against three railroad companies, officials announced today.Jose Tellez, 40, was with his wife Zoila and their daughter on June 19, 2009...

Crews today began slowly clearing railroad cars involved in a fiery derailment more than 100 miles west of Chicago Friday, as some of the 26 cars continued to smolder, the chief federal investigator in the accident said today.Investigators arrived...

One moment Joe Passi was asleep in his bed. The next, he was fully awake, rocked into consciousness by an explosion the likes of which he had never heard before.
Looking out the front window of his home on the eastern edge of the town of Tiskilwa, "about...

Join us at noon CT (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, July 12, for an hour-long chat about creating the safest, healthiest environment for children, with the Tribune's health reporter Trine Tsouderos and panelist Dr. Carl Baum. Lead paint,...

Spikes in gas prices often turn attention toward alternative fuels. Ethanol alcohol, in the form of E85, is occasionally in the news due to political debates, automotive marketing and the controversial rise in global food prices. GM (the largest...

Fueling up your car may one day be as easy as cleaning out the refrigerator or taking out the trash, according to Edmunds.com.
Here's a list of some of the innovations in alternative fuels being researched:
• Garbage: Waste Management Inc. is liquefying...

"Actual results will vary for many reasons," says the fine print below the EPA gas mileage on any new car's Monroney sticker. The sticker then lists a few of them: driving conditions, driving style, vehicle maintenance.
There's one more: ethanol.
...

Kor Ecologic Inc. founder Jim Kor has been described as a shaggy introvert and hermit. Yet this engineer is out to change the world with the Urbee, a unique hybrid vehicle that dares to be plastic, can zip across the country on 10 gallons of fuel and is...

Americans are going to chow down on 1.23 billion chicken wings during Super Bowl weekend this year. But there will be fewer wings available and they’ll cost more, according to an annual report.
The NFL championship game, this year between the San...

Chevy will be using the Detroit Auto Show on Jan. 14 to release two quintessentially American products: an all-new Corvette and Silverado pickup truck. But the automaker's booth will have an international flavor as well, as five vehicles from Chevy's...